Letting Jesus remain in us
April 28—Fifth Sunday of Easter
Readings: Acts 9:26-31; Psalm 22, R. I will praise you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.; 1 John 3:18-24; Gospel—John 15:1-8
Our Gospel readings these days are taken from the Last Discourse of John. We read this during Lent as we come closer to Holy Week as a preparation for the impending Passion and Death on the Cross. This time, we read it from the perspective of the Ascension and the Resurrection.
Three points to reflect on: the invitation to remain in Jesus which is then described in the image of the vine and the branches; the pruning of the vine and to bear fruit.
One of the themes we also read these days is centering our life in Jesus. In today’s Gospel it becomes very explicit, “remain in Me,” and with it is the promise that He will remain in us.
This intimacy with Jesus is described as the vine and the branches. It shows us our connectedness with Jesus as well as with one another, a connectedness that is life-giving and interactive.
St. Paul, in his Letter to the Ephesians (3:17-19), wrote, “so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
“Rooted and grounded in love” is the grace of centering our life in Jesus. Adding to this the Ignatian grace to know, to love and to follow Jesus more, we see the flow of grace.
To know Jesus is to enter a relationship with Him, and it cannot be anything else other than experiencing his love. The fruit of this experience is gratitude and humility, a positive conversion that inspires us to love Him in return.
Gratitude and humility
This is the second point for our reflection, our being pruned by the love of God. Here I offer another perspective other than the usual “pruning” through trials and challenges. Let us look at “pruning” through gratitude and humility.
One of the stories of conversion that led to gratitude is the story of Zaccheus (cf. Luke 19:1-10). Encountering Jesus converted him, and despite criticisms from others, he stood his ground, and out of gratitude offered to make right whatever wrongs he committed.
This is the gratitude of one who has been noticed by Jesus and experienced His forgiveness. It changes his life drastically.The other story of “pruning,” this time of humility, is the Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14). It is the grace of humility and repentance, the grace that justified and saved him.
The “pruning” of gratitude and humility leads us to the third and final point for reflection, to bear fruit.
The last two statements of the Lord in today’s Gospel stated: “If you remain in Me and my words remain in You, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become My disciples.”
To bear fruit is discipleship, to follow Jesus. We attain this through the intimate relationship with Jesus, remaining in Him and allowing Him to remain in us. This empowers us to ask and be a channel of grace to do His work.
The final fruit of this flow of grace is giving glory to God as Jesus’ disciples.
In the flow of the grace to know, to love and to follow Jesus we become His disciples, and our life is lived for the greater glory of God always. —CONTRIBUTED INQ
